Apocolyptic Camping Trip
by thesmokelives
Summary: Jesse Cable has just fled from her home in hopes of escaping a bizarre army weapon gone wrong. After establishing a small community of neighbours in a nearby forest, Jesse begins to wonder what shape her new world will take the form of.
1. Jesse Cable

This is a totally new fanfic that is VERY loosely based on Uglies. This is set at the end of the Rusty era, just as/ after the oil disaster strikes. You may notice a familiar name or two regardless. ;)

***

My father woke me up first.

"Get out of bed! Don't grab anything, just grab your mother and get out of the house!" I fell on the floor. Dad was still in his work uniform. He worked nights, which meant it was about four-thirty in the morning. I put on a white housecoat and looked at him. "What are you talking about? Where's mom?"

"In bed, now go wake her up and get out of the house. I'll meet you in the forest at the end of the road in five minutes. Now _go_!" For some reason, I didn't ask any more questions. He seemed frantic, which meant something was seriously wrong. I think the reason I was so afraid was dad's job. He worked for the military, but never really told me the specifics of his job. I don't think he was allowed. I pulled on my slippers and ran across the hall to my mom's room. Dad was on the phone, arguing with someone. I grabbed my mom. "Hey, get up," I whispered. Her eyes were open before I even began speaking. She was a really light sleeper. My dad's yelling became more fanatical, and my mom's eyes became almost as panicked as his were when he entered my room. "What's going on?" she said, rising and putting on a blue windbreaker. "We have to leave. Dad said to grab our shoes and go to the forest at the end of the road. He's meeting us there." She nodded, immediately sensing the alarm in my voice. She put on a pair of sneakers, and grabbed my arm. "Mom, I need to get something." I ran to my room, sifting through all the discarded school notes and clothing to find what I was looking for: my photo album. I heard my mom scream. "BACK DOOR, JESSE! NOW!" I swung my head around to my window, and saw two dark green armoured vans fly into our driveway. I heard them burst through the front door, and realised I was trapped. I went back to my parent's bedroom and opened the window. My mom was hiding against the back wall of our house, and looked up when I dropped the photo album down to her. "Jesse!" she whispered. I jumped; making sure my landing wasn't too loud. I grabbed the photo album, and my mom's arm, and began running toward the green mesh fence at the back of our yard. I was more fit than she was, and had to tug her along. My mom was thin, but fragile, while I was tougher, and more athletic. I jumped over the fence easily and helped my mom over. Our house backed onto a forest; the same one as the end of the road. We could easily loop around and meet dad within about five minutes. But why was I afraid of the armoured vans? Dad brought people home from work often, and I had never thought anything of it. But this was different, I could tell. They had driven up our driveway almost _angrily_. I had a feeling whatever was coming, was big. And we weren't supposed to know about it.

***

We got to the end of the road, and sat about twenty feet into the forest. Waiting. One of the vans drove away, but one remained a little bit longer. Suddenly my face was against my mother's torso, and she was yelling at me. "Jesse, don't look up!" I closed my eyes as hard as I could, until my head hurt and my eyes watered. I heard yelling. "None of you are going to outlive this thing! We're all as good as dead, and it's all because the government thinks—" I heard a gunshot, and grabbed onto my mom. I wasn't going to think. I wasn't going to think about how that was my dad's voice. Or how I heard him kicking and fighting to try and get to us. Or how that gunshot had silenced him, how he was dead.

But I couldn't help it. I thought about everything, but one more thought crept into my mind.

_We're all as good as dead. _

What was coming? And could my mother and I get away from it, whatever it was?

***

So... ^_^! Comment, tell me what you think! I don't know how long I'm going to work on this one, it all depends on how I feel it's going. :D


	2. Dane Clark

We had been walking for about half an hour, hiking further into the forest. We were far outside the city. My mother sat down a huge duffel bag that I hadn't noticed since I was walking in front. "Where did you get that?" I asked. "I grabbed it from under the stairs before I left. I figured we might need some supplies." I nodded, and unzipped it. Inside, there was a tent, about a dozen bottles of water, a pot, a pack of wooden matches, and a few other supplies. "Wow. How did you get time to get all this stuff?"

"Your... father... had it stored there, in case of emergencies." The sun was beginning to rise. I thought about all the people I left behind. My father, my friends, and... Dane. He had been my best friend. I would go back and get him tonight, but I couldn't tell my mother. She would never allow it. I took out the pot, a match, a bottle of water, and a pack of Mr. Noodles. I tied my hair back and set up a pile of dusty, old twigs to light on fire. My mother looked toward me. "Good idea. I'm going to go look for some more firewood."

"Mom?" She turned. "Yes?"

"What's coming?" She scrunched her eyes. "Jesse, I can't talk about that right now. Tonight." I nodded, slightly irritated that she knew, yet didn't tell me. I could understand though. I made myself some Mr. Noodles. It tasted warm and inviting. I usually didn't like dehydrated noodles, but it tasted wonderful compared to the thought of searching for berries- or worse, meat. I took out the tent and looked at it. It said it would sleep six people, but it looked more like four.

I had it set up within an hour, around the time my mother returned. "There's a blanket in there somewhere, and a pillow, but that's it. I'm sorry we weren't more prepared. "No, it's alright," I said. I didn't want to become angry with her for anything. The last thing we needed was an argument. "How far did you get into the forest?" My mom froze. I didn't understand. Why was she acting so strangely... unless... "YOU DIDN'T GO FURTHER IN, DID YOU?!" She closed her eyes, and rubbed her forehead. "I just wanted to see if anything had begun yet. I-"

"Did you go near our house?"

"I'm sorry, Jesse. I wanted to see it again. I-"

"Why didn't you go in and get more supplies? Grab a newspaper, _something_!"

"I couldn't."

"Why not?" Whatever was coming... did it have something to do with houses? Or something in them? I thought for a moment, but my mother interrupted me. "Here. Sit down and I'll explain everything." I complied. "Do you know what your father does- did- for a living?"

"He worked for the military."

"Specifically?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "I don't think he ever told me."

"He was helping the government develop... a tool. Something to do with a war on foreign oil."

"Okay... what does that have to do with anything?"

"They made something. Don't ask me how- I have no idea. All he told me when he went to work today is that this might happen- that we might have to leave. That's why I had the duffel bag ready. Anyway, they made something, some kind of spore. It latches onto oil, and when it is exposed to oxygen, it-" she stopped. "Mom, what? It catches fire or something?"

"It explodes." Why would anyone make that? And dad... he had helped? I couldn't accept that. My dad was one of the_ good _guys!"Why would they attack their own country?! We need oil!"

"It isn't for us. It's for them- who they're fighting the war with. But it carries over _air_. It will get to us eventually."

"How long do we have until it... happens?" My mom shrugged. "I don't know. Your father said that if he couldn't convince them otherwise, they would be releasing it tonight. After that, I don't know how long it could take to reach us. Maybe ten minutes, maybe a day." I nodded. So Dane really was in a lot of danger. It was fine. I would have time to get him, and maybe a few others, before anything grave happened. I wanted to kill myself for not grabbing the cell phone that had been charging on my bedside table. I could call them all... tell them what was coming... But it was too late for that. I couldn't get them all. Not in time. And it's not like they could get away in cars, or anything.

When my mother went to sleep that night, I told her I was going to stay up and get myself some more Mr. Noodles. Instead, I clanged around a pot until I knew she was asleep, then began walking toward my friends, my house, and the life I knew I could never go back to.


	3. Elizabeth and Cam

Dane's house was further than mine. I seriously debated going into my house, but I made a compromise. I would run in the back door, grab as much food as I could in about five seconds, and flee through the front door, across the street to Dane's house, and into his house. He had three siblings: A newborn brother, a six-year-old sister, and a twelve-year-old brother. I hoped I could get them all out. I ran in, grabbed tons of non-perishable food, and shoved it into my school backpack that had been sitting beside the front door. For a brief second, I had a panic attack, remembering I had an essay on Hamlet due the next day that I hadn't even started, and then I remembered. "You're retarded," I said out loud. I threw my binders on the floor, and ran across the road. The door was unlocked, which was lucky for me. Our entire neighbourhood was very trusting of each other. Dane's father looked at me from his recliner. "Oh, Jesse. How are you?" He saw my muddy clothes and tangled hair, and his expression changed from one of pleasant surprise to alert. "What's wrong?" He knew my father, and knew where he worked. "Get your kids. I'm going to take them into the woods. Don't argue, just do it. You and your wife go grab as many people as you can in ten minutes. You hear me? You had better be in the woods in _ten minutes_!" He jumped up, and called his wife. "Sheryl! Grab the kids! Everyone, downstairs, _now_!" Within thirty seconds all four kids were downstairs, pulling on their shoes. Dane looked at me. "Jesse, what is all this?" I felt antsy standing in his house, feeling as if everything was going to suddenly explode. Which it might. Instead of answering him, I asked a question. "Do you guys have a tent?" Sheryl nodded. "Two. They're in the basement." I nodded downwards and she understood, running down the stairs to the basement. "Dane, grab the baby. Once your mom has the tents, we have to meet my mom in the woods." Sheryl returned with two bags, and a small black box. "It's a radio. It's solar powered—for the beach. You can take it." I nodded. "Remember, ten minutes." They agreed, and the four of us ran out the door, sprinting down the road.

***

We made it, and began setting up the two tents. My mom woke up, and poked her head out the window. She saw the kids, and knew what I had done. "Jesse! Do you know what could have—"

"Yes. Sheryl and Gary are grabbing as many people as they can in ten minutes. They should be here soon. They also got us a radio, and I grabbed some more food." I could tell my mom was angry, but she was faltering. We needed more food, and the lives that were saved were important. She got out of bed and turned on the radio, trying to pick up a station. Eventually we got one, but they were just playing some Bare Naked Ladies, and some other ninety's band I didn't know. We set up the two tents, and about half an hour after our arrival Sheryl and Gary showed up with about thirty people, all carrying assorted bags. I had made a trail of flags leading from the edge of the forest to our camp. My bathrobe had been put to good use. Once everything was counted up, we had about a dozen tents, and enough food to last forty people about twelve days. We were gathered around the radio, but all the stations we picked up seemed as casual as ever. We paused on a D.J with a calm, deep voice, who was talking about the latest celebrity who was rumoured to be pregnant. During the next hour, many people became bored, and some were complaining, saying they were going to leave. One family was on the verge of leaving when the radio announcer's voice vanished, replaced with a high-pitched whine. Around the same time, we heard the emergency sirens from my city going off. A voice came on the radio, and everyone gathered to listen.

"This is not a test. This is an emergency response alert issued by the president of the United States of America and the government of Canada. Please calmly evacuate your homes immediately, and evacuate to a remote location. This is not a test. This is an emergency response alert—" The message continued but I paid no attention to it. I had more important things to deal with at the moment. The kids in our group—and there were about a dozen of them—were crying. I went to comfort several of them as the adults conversed in a serious tone amongst themselves. My mother had gathered them and was explaining the nature of the situation to them. Suddenly, the ground began shaking, so I herded the children into the largest tent, told Dane to watch them, and walked to the edge of our camp. My mother was busy talking to the adults, so I snuck out and ran for about half an hour, finally reaching a spot about a hundred feet from the edge of the forest. From there I could see our entire cul-de-sac. I knew many of the houses must be empty by now, most of them at our camp, but many of them travelling to other locations. I saw fire in the distance, which means it wouldn't be far from here. I had about a minute to wait. I knew this was something I would never see again in my lifetime, and I needed to see it, even if it was from a safe distance. I saw two teenagers running toward the forest, and knew immediately who they were. It was Elizabeth and Cameron Lawrence, twin freshmen who lived around the corner from me. Elizabeth was carrying a backpack, but Cam had nothing. They were at the edge of the forest when the fire reached our street. It traveled unlike a normal fire; one house would burst into flames and burn for about ten seconds before the next house would follow suit. I saw Dane's house go, then mine, stupidly thinking how long my cell phone would last in the blaze. I yelled for the two of them, but it seemed that only Elizabeth heard me. Her head whipped in my direction, her freckles looking like tiny cuts caused by her dark red hair that was hitting her in the face. The two of them must have seen me, because they started heading in my direction. I suddenly noticed the increase in temperature, now that the fire was in full swing. "Jesse!" I swung around to see a man walking toward me, a mop of dark hair covering his face. "Jesus Jesse! Do you know how worried everyone is about you? Your mother said not to bother coming back until—Elizabeth, Cam! Good to see you!" Dane was upbeat, and happy. But by the looks on the twin's faces, their parents wouldn't be following them. Cam read my expression. "When Mr. Clark came over, my parents didn't believe him. They said he could go on his little camping trip all he wants, but they were going out to have a life. Elizabeth and I packed a small bag just in case, and when we heard the television warnings, we knew we had to leave." Cam's face was emotionless, but Elizabeth's was trembling. "They aren't very smart. I hope they knew to run." I nodded. "They would, Elizabeth." I looked around. "We should set up some sort of marker, in case anyone else comes out here." Cam nodded. "Yeah, I have a pad of paper. We can stick notes every little while in case people come." And so we began walking, sticking little notes saying "Keep going!" every fifteen feet or so. Dane helped keep the twins optimistic, for which I was thankful, because I was feeling terrible. When we got back to the camp, my mom was angry, but when I told her of our trail, she was happy. I went to my tent that I was going to share with Elizabeth, since she didn't bring one. I opened my backpack, and was surprised to see my locker mirror concealed in one of the pouches. I took it out and gazed at my reflection. My hair looked like someone had woven sunshine with strands of gold and dirt. I shook some of the dirt out of my hair, which got rid of that component. I gazed at myself, always feeling vain for doing so, but I couldn't help it. My perfectly large eyes gazed back, sitting on a perfectly symmetrical face with full lips and a perfect nose. I couldn't help the way I looked, for me, being pretty was just... natural.


	4. Am I Ugly?

Over the course of the next few days, some people did manage to see our signs. Half a dozen people trickled in over a week, none of them having any supplies of their own. We laid out all of our supplies, and divided it evenly. In the end, everything had worked out well. Our tents formed a circle around the outskirts of a clearing, where smouldering ashes usually sat. Elizabeth, Cam, Dane and I had become much closer as the days wore on, with Dane being sixteen, the twins being fourteen, and I being fifteen, we were the only teenagers at the camp. We didn't have to worry about much, although it was our job to clean up after meals. I wondered if there was any type of place where kids our age didn't have to worry about anything but hanging out and having fun. I kept my photo album safe, as it was the only memento I had of my father. "Jesse." It was Dane. He snapped me out of my reverie and took me back to reality. "Oh," I set my album down and motioned for him to sit in Elizabeth's unoccupied bed, but as a reply he motioned for me to accompany him outside. I stepped out of the tent, taking in a small breath of summer air. I wondered what would have happened if it was winter. "I need to talk to you, if you don't mind." I nodded and we began walking through the forest, remembering to stay close to camp. At a small clearing I laid myself in the grass, enjoying the sunlight and the air around me. I closed my eyes, and from the light under my eyes changing, could tell Dane was pacing back and forth in front of me. I rolled on my side, planning to open my eyes, but I felt sleepy; I didn't want to. "So what's up?"

"Do you think I'm ugly?" I flipped upright and opened my eyes. What an odd question. Dane had medium-brown hair that draped around his head. His nose was pretty big, but he had full lips, brown eyes, kind of scrawny... I wouldn't call him handsome, but he wasn't hideous. "Forget it." He started pacing back to camp. "Jesus, Dane! I didn't even say anything!" He wasn't listening. It's not like it was my fault. Why the hell was he asking me if he was ugly? I didn't even usually look at Dane. I mean, he was kind of weird looking, but so was everyone in this little tribe we had created. Except for me. It wasn't that I was vain; I just _knew_ that I was better looking than the rest of the camp. But whatever the case, Dane was being unreasonable. "Dane! Come here!" He stopped, and turned around to face me. "Sorry, Jesse. I would absolutely love to stay and talk to you, but I don't want you to have to endure the torture of looking at me." Dane had never spoken to me like that before. He was nice, to everyone, but especially to me. We had been friends since I was twelve. "What the hell has gotten into you?!" I screamed, finally getting his attention. His expression went from shock, to anger, to embarrassment and irritation. "I told you to forget it! It's not important."

"Why did you want to know if I thought you were ugly?" I was calmer now. I figured I wasn't going to find out anything by screaming at him. "Please, just tell me."

"Because you're not."

"What are you talking about?"

"You look _perfect_! There's nothing abnormal about you, nothing unusual or special. It must be so _easy_." I was angry again. He didn't know what it was like to be me. His parents were still alive and well, all of his siblings safe and happy. I had nobody. My mom was far too busy running things to pay much attention to me these days. "How d_are you_?! You have no idea what it's like to be me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. It must be so hard to be _pretty_!" He spat that last word, and without turning back, walked back to camp. Elizabeth was walking toward us, smiling as always, not noticing the look on either of our faces. She went to wave at Dane, but he ignored her, pushing by her as he walked toward camp. Elizabeth's face went from cheerful to confused, and she came to talk to me. "What's with him?" she said. "He's acting stupid. He'll get over it."

Things were awkward between Dane and I over the course of the next few days. I still didn't understand _why_ he had asked me what he did. Nevertheless, I continued my attempts at making normal conversation, failing more often than not. Cam and Elizabeth were good friends of mine, although Elizabeth had told me on several occasions that Cam had a crush on me, I ignored her. I didn't need any more awkward conversations. The three of us were sitting in my tent reading magazines while Dane was out getting water to boil. This was my favourite time; when Dane wasn't there. I knew it was cruel, but none of us liked the awkwardness. Here, we were able to relax. Elizabeth saw a store she liked on one page, and made a comment about how she would like to go shopping there, then stopped herself. We had all been making little slip-ups like that since we arrived here. "It's okay, Elizabeth. You'll get to go shopping again." She smiled, both of us knowing it wasn't the shopping she cared about. Cam laughed, and we both looked in his direction. "What's so funny?"

"Well the fires and all that have probably all smouldered out by now, right?" We nodded, sensing where he was going but not liking it. "Let's go then! We can go downtown and take a look at what's left. Maybe some things are still standing."

"I don't know, Cam. What if Karen found out?" Karen was my mother, and had a strict rule against us going back. "Yeah Cam, we can't risk it." He nodded. "That's fine with me. You guys can stay here, but I'm going. I'll see you tonight." He had trapped us, and he knew it. We couldn't possibly let him go alone, but we couldn't tell my mother on a friend. "Fine," I sighed, "We'll go. But only for a couple hours." He smiled broadly and we grabbed supper, and a few supplies before circling around the camp, taking extra care to ensure no adults saw us. We were going to have a lot of fun tonight.


	5. Night Life

A/N: So I found two chapters of this while I was looking through my computer, so yay for you guys! I wrote this like over a year ago, so forgive me. Enjoy!

Downtown, or what was left of it, was eerily quiet. Everything was black, and ash floated around us in swirls, gently landing in our hair and eyelashes. What we never thought about, and certainly never expected, were the bodies. Most of the bodies were in the cars that blocked the streets, while many were piled in the sidewalks. "This isn't fun." I said, making sure not to step on anything. I don't think I could stand the sound it would make. "I know," Cam said, "Let's get back home before it gets too dark." We nodded and turned around, suddenly confronted by a woman with what looked like four male bodyguards behind her. She had blonde hair that had been tied into what looked like a combination of braids and dreadlocks, and she was wearing what looked like filthy pyjamas with the legs and arms torn off. The four men were equally as filthy, and were wearing assorted jeans and t-shirts. "Oh, hello. It's nice to see some other people around here." I tried to smile despite the fact that I was lying. It wasn't nice at all. We were clean, civilized people, whereas they looked like... savages. The woman snarled and Elizabeth scurried behind Cam, looking to me for direction. "This is not your land, kids. Why are you here?" I couldn't come up with an answer. I just stood there dumbly, looking at the four men and how large they were. The woman noticed where I was looking, and smirked. "You know, there aren't a lot of women back at our compound, and certainly none as pretty as you. Come with us, we'll take you back to the East Side." She looked to Elizabeth, who was still cowering behind Cam. "And I suppose your little girlfriend could come too, she's not too bad to look at either." I had no idea what they were talking about. Why would looks have anything to do with who could come? "Don't do it, Jesse." Cam grabbed my arm and pulled me a few feet further from the woman. What happened next was over within a few seconds. The woman flicked her head toward us, and as soon as the four men realized what she wanted, we did too. The three of us turned and ran, trying to dodge not only the bodies following us, but the ones beneath our feet. I ran the fastest, being the most athletic of us, with Cam shortly behind me. As Cam screamed and cursed, I turned around long enough to see one of the men take Elizabeth around the waist as the rest surrounded her to secure her remaining limbs that were kicking and flailing against her captors. Cam started to run toward her, but I grabbed his arm. "No! Come here, Cam!" I yanked him around the corner of a building to an alley. There were a flight of cement stairs that led to a steel door. We went down the stairs and were surprised to find it unlocked. I yanked the door shut behind us, sitting Cam in front of me. He was looking at me hysterically, breathing heavily as he tried to keep from snapping. "Cam, take deep breaths. You need to calm down." I rubbed his back, trying to get him to settle. "Jesse, you don't understand... she's the only family I have left, and I just let them _take _her."

"No you didn't. They would have taken all of us if we hadn't fled. We'll get her back."

A/N: So I know it's short. I just really felt like writing and decided to make a chapter real quick. :D


	6. Rescue

It was already dark when Cam and I walked to the East Side. Both of us were still trying to adjust to the way the city now looked; dark, depressing, and littered with people who didn't have the head start we all did. We made sure to keep hidden, while still trying to look around for this "compound" that would surely have Elizabeth hidden inside. After an hour of searching the streets, we were still unsuccessful. "This isn't working," Cam said, "are you sure they're here?" I nodded. "Yes." I knew they had to be around here somewhere. They had to be or else... we had nothing to go on. If they weren't here, then she could be anywhere in the city; a city that used to house over a hundred thousand people. "There has to be something we've overlooked. We've checked every street, every house, and every store in the East Side." Cam looked up. "Maybe they're not above ground."

"What?"

"Think about it. If they stayed above ground, it would be easy for people to find them, and easy for people to attack them. Or rescue people, whichever." I nodded. It made sense, and I couldn't believe I had been so stupid not to realize it sooner. I was slightly embarrassed that I had overlooked something so simple, so I simply nodded again.

"So where do we start?" He thought for a moment. He seemed to be doing all the thinking, while I just sat there doing... what?

"Maybe we should check the basements of some of the stores. Boiler rooms, underground storage, stuff like that. It would be the best place to set up a community if you didn't want to be seen." Cam smiled and I did too. It felt good to feel like I had purpose. We first walked to one of the department stores, checking every nook and cranny in the basement. Afterwards, we checked a grocery store, a boutique, and a mechanic's garage. Finally we saw one store we knew had to have something: Wal-Mart. Most of the building was gone, but the metal frame still stood, illuminating the ghostly deserted aisles of burnt and unusable goods. We walked inside, making sure to make as little noise as possible. I once knew somebody who worked at a Wal-Mart, and working under the assumption that every Wal-Mart was the same, I began walking toward the back of the store, where I hoped I would find the staircase that led to the basement. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long, as the wall that separated storage from the rest of the store was no longer standing. I could see the staircase. If Elizabeth wasn't there, someone who knew about this 'compound' might be. The two of us descended, keeping an eye out for anyone nearby. As we did, it occurred to me that we had no weapons, nothing for self-defence. Well, it was too late for that now.

But hopefully not too late for Elizabeth.


End file.
